Some of the most intimidating hackers in the world have been corralled by the U.S. military as an elite posse ready to launch cyber warfare against enemy networks should the orders be issued. The group’s existence was revealed during a recent U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, where military leaders described a unit called the Joint Functional Component Command for Network Warfare (JFCCNW). Wired.com reports the unit "could best be described as the world’s most formidable hacker posse. Ever." While charged with defending all Department of Defense networks; its real capabilities are highly classified. A former Marine intelligence officer has been quoted as saying he believes the posse is capable of destroying networks and penetrating enemy computers to steal and manipulate data, as well as set loose worms to take down enemy command-and-control systems.
Moore at Home
An engineer at Philips Electronics collected a $10,000 reward from Intel for turning over his copy of the April 19, 1965 issue of Electronics magazine in which Moore’s Law was first published. Intel posted the reward as a run-up to the "Law’s" 40th anniversary, hoping to obtain a "mint condition" copy of the magazine in which the company’s co-founder Gordon Moore wrote that the number of transistors on a chip would continue to double at regular intervals. It would become one of the most quoted observations in the history of computing. BBC News reports David Clark, who picked up a copy of the magazine in the 1970s when a local library was clearing its stacks, unearthed it from under the floorboards of his home in Surrey, England. Intel plans to exhibit the magazine at its corporate museum in Santa Clara, CA.
Sniffing Out Cancer
A device resembling a walkie-talkie embedded with a computer chip for nostrils can detect lung cancer just from whiffing the breath of patients with the disease. The Cyranose, named after the long-nosed theatrical character Cyrano de Bergerac and originally created to detect spoilage in perishable foods, is now being employed to recognize the telltale "smellprint" of lung-cancerous breath. Scientists at the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic examined the exhaled breath of 14 lung cancer patients and 45 healthy patients. The e-nose was programmed to detect certain characteristics in breath and algorithms were designed to create viewable patterns. The Cyranose correctly detected lung cancer 85% of the time, suggesting the device may be best used to find recurrences in known cancer patients and as a screening tool for others. "Use of the electronic nose could enable physicians to determine the appropriate course for a lung cancer patient’s treatment at an earlier stage, rather than after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body and is more difficult to treat," said Dr. Serpil Erzurum, chair of the clinic’s pathobiology department.
Retiring Old Friends
A new breed of driver-safety systems able to "sense" impending collisions and react to potential hazards could reduce the frequency and severity of accidents in the near future. Automakers worldwide are about to incorporate new systems into vehicles, including such devices as lane departure warning mechanisms; onboard optics, radar, and object-detection algorithms that warn drivers of impending collisions; and radar systems to calculate the direction, distance, and speed between vehicles. Honda is looking to adapt technology to avoid hitting smaller objects, including pedestrians. Technology Review reports some automakers are taking their first steps to reduce fatalities by redesigning vehicle exteriors, while Honda and Mercedes-Benz are developing sensing technologies that will automatically reduce impact. New European Commission safety requirements also require automakers to introduce pedestrian safety technologies that would reduce the force of vehicle-to-vehicle impact, as well as head injuries from windshield impact. And Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Bill Ford, Jr. of Ford Motor Co. recently outlined a future in which software would enable cars to fix themselves and avoid collisions.
A Rose By Any Other Name?
It’s downloaded like spyware; it operates like spyware silently monitoring every move the user makes online; and it sends that information back to the program’s creator, just like dreaded spyware. So why are millions of people downloading it? Well, because they asked first. Unlike spyware, which is installed in a stealthy manner without the user’s knowledge or consent, makers of a growing crop of "researchware" make their purpose known to consumers—that is, to gather market research data. Although created (as spyware) by marketing vendors, MSNBC Interactive reports the marketing industry doesn’t know what to make of researchware. "There’s no official meaning to the term," says Dwayne Berlin, general council of American Survey Research Organizations. "Observational research is extremely legitimate. But we need to make sure industry codes fit the new methods." Still, privacy advocates contend most users do not fully grasp the ramifications of researchware. Says CMU professor Alessandro Acquisti: "I would claim that even the most interested and informed individual cannot forecast the implications of this deal."
Robo-Jockeys
The United Arab Emirates now joins Qatar in agreeing to use robot jockeys—instead of children—to race camels. Qatar became the first Gulf Arab state to ban child jockeys last December, announcing plans to develop robot jockeys by 2005. The first of them should be ready by August. Camel racing is one of the region’s most popular sports, but human rights groups have long called for a ban on the use of children, charging most are brought in from poor countries, exploited by traffickers who pay their impoverished parents. "Unlike the human jockey, the robot is cheaper to maintain and would not have to undergo the same physical hardship that humans would," said Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan al Nahayan, a senior UAE official.
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